Carillion collapse: Another 450 jobs axed at projects nationwide

The jobs axe has fallen again at Carillion, with another 450 workers losing their jobs in the latest wave of redundancies.

Staff from across the Black Country are among those who will lose their jobs in the cuts, which come hot on the heels of almost 380 job losses announced last week.

It brings the current total of redundancies to 829.

The Official Receiver’s office said the latest wave of workers to lose their jobs involved people from Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley, Sandwell, Staffordshire – including South Staffs and Cannock Chase – as well as from Telford and Shropshire.

It is not known whether the latest job losses affect the 400-strong workforce at the company's headquarters on the ring road in Wolverhampton city centre.

The roles are being cut from projects and back office teams across the country.

Difficult

In a statement today a spokesperson for the Official Receiver said: "As part of the ongoing liquidation of the Carillion group, we have reviewed additional public and private sector contracts, as well as core divisions of the business.

“We can confirm that we have safeguarded a further 100 jobs and these roles are linked to public sector contracts. Most staff will be transferring on existing or similar terms, something I will continue to facilitate wherever possible as we work to find new providers for Carillion’s remaining contracts.

“Unfortunately, 452 posts are being made redundant. They cover a variety of roles connected with private and public contracts across different parts of the country, as well as back-office functions.

“We appreciate this will be a difficult time for those who have lost their jobs. Jobcentre Plus’ Rapid Response Service stands ready to support any of these employees by providing advice and information so people can move into a new job as quickly as possible. People who have been made redundant will also be entitled to make a claim for statutory redundancy payments.

“Our efforts are focused on the smooth transfer of Carillion’s contracts to new providers and we will continue to keep Carillion’s workforce updated as these arrangements are finalised.”

Around 900 jobs were secured last week with Carillion staff transferring to new companies taking over contracts in both the private and public sectors.

The Official Receiver says continued support by Carillion’s public and private sector customers has enabled as many employees as possible to be retained in the interim until all contracts have been worked through.

Callous

Union GMB claims some workers received emails simply telling them not to bother turning up for work, while also claiming the firm's staff are being treated 'with utter contempt'.

Rehana Azam, the union's national secretary, said: "Loyal Carillion staff are being treated with utter contempt by PWC.

“The receiver told the task force that central office staff would remain in place until April – then this morning we see almost 500 are being booted out.

“It’s not just the fact so many are being made redundant – it’s the callous way PWC are going about it which is so outrageous.

“Some people received emails on Saturday simply telling them not to bother turning up for work on Monday.

“Others have been given less than a day’s notice.

“And the ones that still have a job are in limbo – like some horrific zero hours contract they turn up to work each day not knowing if they’ll still have a job at the end of the day.

“Both the Receiver and PWC must follow proper procedure and consult over redundancies."